Seal-lock



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

E. H. LEA 8v W. B. MARKS.

' SEAL LOCK.

Patented Feb. 26 .ZV/)gf 2 Sheets-Sheen v2.

Patented Feb.26,11889..

SEAL LOCK.

Figi.

E. H. LEA & W. B. MARKS.

(No Model.)

gow /LW N. PETERS. mamiimvgmphun wnsngwmuc.

UNTTEO STATES PATENT EDTVIN HOLMES LEA AND VALTER BOOTH MARKS, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

SEAL-LOC K.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 398,411, dated February 26, 1889. Application filed September 24, 1888. Serial No` 286,187. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWIN HOLMES LEA and WALTER BOOTH MARKS, citizens of the United States, residing Aat Richmond, in the 5 county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improve- :ments in Seal-Locks for Freight or Postal Cars and other Vehicles; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de- 1o scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention consists in a novel construction of a locking sliding staple-bolt provided 15 with a self-acting tumbler or retaining-pin, said staplebolt serving both as a carrier and lock for a sealing-tag, in combination with an inside concealed safety-stop for the tumbler or retaining-pin, a hasp, and a sliding door of a 2o car.

It also consists in a novel construction of scali 11g-tags, in combination with the hasp and locking sliding staple-bolt, whereby, in Order to open the door of the car, the sealing-tag 25 must be niutilated,whether the act is done by the sealer or Superintendent of the c 1r or by train-robbers, and suchmutilation will show at Once that the car has been opened, either authorizedly or otherwise, after having been 3o closed and Sealed.

It also consists in certain other novel constructions and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter described.

vIn the drawings, Figure l is a front eleva- 3 5 tion of a portion of a freight or postal car or other vehicle with our invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same, showing in full lines the door partly opened and the parts adjusted so as to per- 4o mit it to be fully opened, the door, staplebolt, the sealingtag, and the hasp being shown by dotted lines in said figure as-they appear when the car is closed and the Seal locked. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-Section ot the same, the

4 5 sealing-tag being in place on the sliding staplebolt, and all the parts ready for the staplebolt to be pressed inward, and it and the Seal thereby automatically locked by the staplebolt tumbler or retaining-pin. Fig. et is a 5o similar view to Fig. 3, the parts being adjusted to their closed and sealed positions and the hasp retained by an ordinary pin,

Fig. 5 is a View illustrating the manner in which the sealing-tag is mutilated by pulling the hasp. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the staple 55 bolt. Fig. 7 is a detail view of the hasp and its hinge. Fig. 8 is a detail rear view of the safety-stop, and Fig. 9 shows several styles of sealing-tags which may preferably be employed. 6o

. A inthe drawings may represent the body of a freight or postal car or other vehicle provided with a laterally-sliding door, B. Upon the door B a hasp, C, is hinged to a strong bracket, a, set at a convenient distance above 6 5 the door-sill and fastened by concealed bolts or rivets in any appropriate manner. This hasp is formed with a slot, b, at its free end, so as to pass overmyiinproved staple-bolt D, which, with `other improved parts, will now 7o be described. The staple-bolt D is of rectangular form, and at its front or outer end is provided with a loop, g, having an opening, g', so as to receive and hold a scaling-tag, H, as illust-rated, and its inner portion is ver- 75 tically widened. or enlarged, as at b', and shouldered, as at c c, the enlarged portion being chambered and closed at its top and sides, but open at its rear end and bottom, as shown. lVithin the chambered portion a gravitating 8o or spring-acting angular tumbler, d, is hung upon a pivot, d', said tumbler moving upward in the chamber of the enlargedportion b and downward through the open bottom thereof, in a manner plainly illustrated in the draw- 8 5 ings. Instead of this special pivoted angular tumbler, any other equivalent gravitating or spring-acting automaticlocking holding de vice may be adopted and raised out of action by the hand, the saine as the tumbler shown is 9o adapted to be thus raised. This slidin g staplebolt is 'fitted within a metallic casing, F, set into one of the door-posts of the car. This casin g is formed at its forward end with a rectangular tubular portion, e, corresponding to 9 5 the front or smaller portion ot the staple-bolt, and back of this portion it is enlarged, as at e', and shouldered internally, as at e2, thereby corresponding to the enlarged shouldered portion of the said staple-boit, and on this en roo larged portion, downwardly therefrom, a still further enlargement, e3, is provided, so as to aord room for the downward movement of the locking-tumbler d, and also permit the s scafi-1 1v hand to be inserted for lifting` the tumbler, or its equivalent, when it is desired to slide the staple-bolt outward for applying a'- sealingtag or for any other purposeA This casing forms a stop, for the tumbler to catch against, and thereby prevent the staple -bolt being drawn outward unless its tumbler has been raised out of cont-act wit-h the stop. It also forms a safety-guari'l for preventing access to the tumbler by burglariously cutting through the wood-work of the car from the outside. The end ot' the case is closed by a vertical slide, G, tted in a guide-plate, G, which is formed with an access opening, as shown. This slide is intended to exclude sand, grain, and other substances 'from the chamber ot' the casing. The guide-plate also limits the back movement oi` the staple-bolt. Through the looped portion of the staple-bolt vertical coinciding passages yin. are formed for the insertion of the pin n, employed usually for retaining the lia-sp on the staple-bolt, said pin being hung tothe car by a chain, n, as shown.

The parts thus far described serve as a lock lfor the sealing-tag H and a fastening for; the door, and the hasp can be used as a means by which to slide the door laterally, either for Closing or opening it. When the door is closed and the sealing-tag locked, the parts occupy the position shown in Fig. i, and when it is open and the tag unlocked the position shown in Fig. 3. For sealing the lock we have devised the tag Il', formed with a destructionwireI re-enforce, s, in the form of a link or other suitable form, confined between pieces of cardboard or other fragile material united by eyeleting or otherwise, as shown. At the top of this tag a metal wearing and binding clasp, s, is applied, and below the clasp a rectangular opening, S2, is provided, -so that the tag may be placed upon the loop ot the staplebolt.

The tags may be formed with metal clasps s s3 at top and bottom, as shown at lili, and they may be formed with clasps which alone act both as a destruction re-en'force and a clasp by shaping the clasps at H3 llt, thus dispei'lsing with the wire-link re-enii'orce.

lf a sealing-tag is placed upon the loop o of the staple-bolt .D after the staple has been adjusted to its proper position on the loop, but before the bolt is slid inward to its looking positi ou, and th e staple-bolt is th en slid inward so as to seal the entrance g of its loop for the Sealing-tag and allow the tumbler to automatically fall behind the retaining-stop, and thereby lock the staple-bolt, and the staple-retaining-pin n is inserted in thepassages m, it will be impossible for the door to be opened without withdrawing said pin n and pulling the hasp oi'i from the loop, in doing which the sealing-tag will bc so torn or mutilated by the resisting action ol' the wire re-enforce s and clasp s that an exposure of the act will surely occur. It will be understood that the loop-shaped wire re-en'force requires to be broken before the hasp can be separated from the loop of the staple-bolt. A very similar destruction of the sealing-tag will take place when a tag such as either ll3 or H'1 is used; but we preter to employ either the tag H or H2, formed with the link-shaped wire re-enforce s and clasp s or with clasps s s2, as at ll?. Our invention, however, is not confined to any precise construction ot' re-cn'force sealing-tags.

In order to get at the tumbler ol' the lock after the sealing-tag is removed and to unlock the staple-bolt, it is only necessary to swing the hasp oti the loop oi' the staple-bolt, slide the door laterally, insert the hand, and litt the tumbler from the retaining-stop and slide the bolt outward the proper distance, and when thus adj usted a new sealing-tag can be applied and the parts read j usted in the manner before described.

Our invention is not confined to any special construction of destructible sealing-tag; but wc prefer to use the kinds described, as they will manifest by their mutilated condition more fully the tact that the car has been opened.

From the aforcgoing description it will be seen that our seal-locking mechanism combines an always positively-holding tumbler, which can be only operated from the inside of the car, a iiXed retaining-stop, and an openlooped staple-bolt, and thus differs from an open-looped staple-bolt combined with a retaining-dog, which is not a/lways positive, and can be operated from the outside of the car,

IOO

and also differs from a bolt provided with a tag-holding pin and a pivoted and a fixed tag-holding jaw combined with a retainingtooth and pawl operated from the inside of the car.

It will also be seen that oursealing-tag does not require to be provid ed with a metallic back yplate and weakening.perforations through it and the metallic plate, but thatfit is formed with two exposed paper surfaces re-enforced at the top or both at the top and bottom edges, and with a wire-loop re-entorce within the tag or between the layers of paper of which itis constructed, and therefore requires to be almost totally destroyed from top to bottom before it can be removed from the lockingbolt.

That we claim 'is--` l. In a seal-lock, in combination, the protection-casing having an access-opening at its rear end and formed with a iixed retainingstop and adapted to be applied to the framing of a structure, the staple-bolt having an open loop, and a locking-tumbler adapted to be operated only from the inside ot' said structure, substantii-illy as and for the purpose described. n

2. In a seal-lock, in combination, the protection-casing having an access-opening at its rear end formed with internal and external shoulders and a iixed retaining-stop, the supporting-frame, the staple-bolt having an open loop, and a locking-tumbler adapted to be op- IOS IXO

erated only from the inside oi the structure to which it is applied, substantially as described.

In a seal-lock, in combination', the protection-casing provided with a retaining-stop, a vertical open guide-plate, and a vertical slide, the sliding staple-bolt having an open loop and provided with a locking-tumbler adapted to be operated onlT from the inside of vthe structure to which it is applied, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4L. In a seal-lock, in combination, the pro teetion-casing having a fixed retainingstop, the sliding staple-bolt having an open and perforated loop for a sealing-tag and a retaining-pin, and a locking-tumbler adapted to be operated only from the inside of the structure to which it is applied, the frame, sliding door, the liasp, and the retaining-pin of such l structure, substantially as described.

5'. In a seal-lock, in combination, a sealingtag having an opening through it, a sliding Ystaple-bolt having an open loop and provided With a locking-tumbler adapted to-be operated only from the inside of the structure to which it is applied, the protection-casing havin g a fixed retaining-stop, the iframe, the sliding door, and the llasp of such structure, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. For a seal-lock, the sealing-tag formed of paper or other equivalent fragile material on both its front and rear sides, and having an opening through it, and provided at one or more of its edges with a narrow metallic claspin g re-e11foree,\vhich in the main leaves 3 5 EDWIN HOLMES LEA. IVALTER BOOTH MARKS.

Titnessesz CHAs. E. PoTTs, RoBT, R. FEILD. 

